Apple paid $ 21 million to use the iconic Swiss clock design in iOS

Back in September, Apple had ripped off the iconic Swiss Clock design into its iOS 6, patent of which is held by the Swiss Federal Railway Service.

The Swiss national rail operator was not happy with it and has summoned a notice to the Cupertino based giant. Apple had also agreed to pay a good lump sum to keep using the design into its OS in October.

But at that time none of the parties had disclosed the amount that Apple paid and now news coming in from AP suggests that the US tech giant went on to pay 20 million Swiss francs or $21 million for using the design without permission.

The clock was designed by Swiss engineer Hans Hilfiker back in 1944 and is a property of SBB which is still being used by SBB at its stations.

In September, a SBB spokesperson had said, “We’re rather proud that a brand as important as Apple is using our design” and SBB was more interested in bringing clarity to where and how Apple could use the logo than in raking in cash.